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Heritage comes alive at camp

A special program teaches immigrant kids about the culture and history of Mexico.

By JOSE CARDENAS
Published July 5, 2007

Luis Garcia, 7, (center) and other children perform in the closing ceremonies for the cultural camp sponsored by the YWCA and the Mexican consulate.
	[Times photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes] Xochitl Becerra helps her son Jose, 9, (center) and Kevin, 6, get ready to perform in the closing ceremonies for a yearly program in which the Mexican consulate and the YWCA bring Mexican teachers to teach Hispanic kids about Mexican culture.

CLEARWATER - As an immigrant from Mexico, Marceleno Caramaya does not want his 9-year-old son to forget Spanish.

So Caramaya, a restaurant manager, enrolled Aldo in a day camp at the YWCA's Hispanic Outreach Center this summer.

The five-week program includes two school teachers sent by the Mexican government each year to instill in the children of immigrants the culture of the old country.

"English is important here," Caramaya said as he watched children perform traditional Mexican dances on the last day of camp Tuesday. The ceremonies were held at St. Cecilia Catholic Church. "But we forget about Spanish, and they are going to need that."

As he danced, Aldo wore a traditional suit from the state of Hidalgo, white pants and shirt with a red scarf and a peasant hat.

"I learned the national anthem, the important people, where our country is," said Aldo, who attends Belleair Elementary School.

The Mexican government sponsors similar camps each summer in cities around Florida and other states with growing Mexican populations.

The Mexican government established the cultural camps 14 years ago after noticing that many of its citizens maintain bonds with relatives back home.

"The principal philosophy is that the child has an encounter with his cultural roots," said David Penaflor, an official at the Mexican Consulate in Orlando.

Most of the Mexican immigrants in Clearwater hail from the state of Hidalgo. Among Clearwater's 108,000 people, the Mexican population grew from 4.5 percent in 2000 to 7.3 in 2005.

The Hispanic Center and a group of immigrant business people known as the Mexican Council of Tampa Bay help coordinate the camp.

"What happens is that when children are born here, they start to lose their culture," said Leonardo Rodriguez, president of the Mexican Council. "We don't want them to lose their roots."

About three dozen children, ages 7 to 12, participated in this year's camp.

During the camp, the children learned about Mexican history, important presidents and traditional songs and dances. The arts and crafts the children made were on display on tables.

For example, there was Benito Juarez, a full-blooded Indian who went on to become one of Mexico's most beloved presidents in the mid 1800s for instituting reforms after the country's independence.

"They celebrate Cinco de Mayo here, when the biggest day in Mexico is 16th of September, the independence day of Mexico," said Rosario Ocampo, one of the Mexican teachers.

(Cinco de Mayo marks a single victory by Mexican forces over the French in 1812. Mexico declared independence Sept. 16, 1810.)

Jose Vega, a sixth-grader at Madeira Beach Elementary School, helped lead a ceremony honoring the Mexican flag. The U.S. flag also was honored.

"We learned about the cities and states. We mostly learned about Hidalgo," he said. "I feel closer because I learned about the country and its history."

[Last modified July 4, 2007, 20:04:30]